Keep in mind that, I have been looking at other sites and the book(s) to help make this character. I am looking to start creating a Lizardfolk character, and I am (as the title says) looking for examples, ideas and anything else that can help make a Lizardfolk character.
2. what kind of character are you looking to make? There’s not a ton of details in your question, do you need help with class/background? Help with concept?
3. Are you coming to human-ish, settlements cause your curious? To find their weaknesses before you destroy them? We’re you banished from your own kind———— (are you Jar Jar Binks?)
Sorry about the lack of details, to be frank, the Lizardfolk is pretty different (for me) to make into character, and I am really new to this. Sense their mind set is really different, the back story is where I need the most help, for right now at least. The idea of my character being banished, had crossed my mind.
The mindset is so different compared to Dwarfs, Elfs, Humans for example, that it is fun to try and make a character out of a Lizardfolk. But at the same time, in general, I just have a tough time knowing how to approach the character proses.
I had a similar problem recently, first thing, where are you from?
I made a map of every significant Lizardfolk population(I could find) to help me decide
For me it was the Marsh of Chelimber a province of Najara, a whole country of scalykind ruled by naga. That gave me a tribal knowledge of undead, and little contact with non scaly races, mostly a minor ogur problem and occasional run ins with tribal humans to the north who refused to abandon their now flooded homeland.
No farming or reading either, only hunter gatherer, I left because winter was coming, and unless we went to war with another tribe for more hunting territory, there was no food for me.
On that note let me bring up being cold blooded and what a Gigantotherm is, you can look it up, but basically its a cold blooded creature that is so large that your surface area to mass ratio changes enough that you CAN regulate your own body temperature. You can benefit from external temperatures to need less calories, but if you need to keep warm by burning calories you do so less efficiently than a warm blooded creature. (so the food to feed an entire tribe balloons in winter)
What does this mean for you? you will probably eat less often, like once a day or less, also your energy will be in spurts, so you will be extra tired after a fight with poor short term endurance, but have no problem fighting in spurts all day with your long term endurance.
Another good thing to look into is who your god is, Lizardfolk tribes tend to only have 1 religion, so even if your not that religious, the values would have drifted into your culture and upbringing in general. The 3 big lizardfolk gods are Semuanya, Sess'innek, and Essylliss.
So that's my tips for Lizardfolk backstory, as for mindset, the Alien Minds & Cold and Calculating section of the race page really is worth re-reading a few times. I basically play it as humans tend to Emote>act>think by default while Lizardfolk Think>act/emote.
I had a similar problem recently, first thing, where are you from?
I made a map of every significant Lizardfolk population(I could find) to help me decide
For me it was the Marsh of Chelimber a province of Najara, a whole country of scalykind ruled by naga. That gave me a tribal knowledge of undead, and little contact with non scaly races, mostly a minor ogur problem and occasional run ins with tribal humans to the north who refused to abandon their now flooded homeland.
No farming or reading either, only hunter gatherer, I left because winter was coming, and unless we went to war with another tribe for more hunting territory, there was no food for me.
On that note let me bring up being cold blooded and what a Gigantotherm is, you can look it up, but basically its a cold blooded creature that is so large that your surface area to mass ratio changes enough that you CAN regulate your own body temperature. You can benefit from external temperatures to need less calories, but if you need to keep warm by burning calories you do so less efficiently than a warm blooded creature. (so the food to feed an entire tribe balloons in winter)
What does this mean for you? you will probably eat less often, like once a day or less, also your energy will be in spurts, so you will be extra tired after a fight with poor short term endurance, but have no problem fighting in spurts all day with your long term endurance.
Another good thing to look into is who your god is, Lizardfolk tribes tend to only have 1 religion, so even if your not that religious, the values would have drifted into your culture and upbringing in general. The 3 big lizardfolk gods are Semuanya, Sess'innek, and Essylliss.
So that's my tips for Lizardfolk backstory, as for mindset, the Alien Minds & Cold and Calculating section of the race page really is worth re-reading a few times. I basically play it as humans tend to Emote>act>think by default while Lizardfolk Think>act/emote.
Hey! So my son and I played a pair of Lizardfolk "Eggbrothers" (brothers in the sense they were born from the same clutch of eggs, not actual genetic brothers) for almost two years. We spent a lot of time developing our culture, specifically so it contrasted with the "softskins" that were neighbors to the swamp.
So we started simple, and after two years, we ended up with a pile of concepts outlined below. Use what you want or ignore it. Semuanya doesn't care. Sorry if it is a little random and stream of consciousness.
Lizardfolk aren't lazy, but they will use the most efficient path to deal with issues. Kill it if it is a problem. If you can't, lure the problem somewhere else, and let someone else kill it.
Trade is interesting when it makes something more efficient for Lizardfolk. The value for lizardfolk is efficiency, not wealth. We might make what other softskins would call a bad deal in terms of value, but if it gets what we want for least effort, that's fine.
Hunt and get what you need in the shortest amount of time and energy.
Softskins are inherently physcially weak. Yet, they have created large civilizations. We are there to study them, as much as a scientist would study animals, to learn what makes them tick, so we can bring back the learnings to the tribe.
Softskins complicate things; they lie, are evasive, and use emotions to make decisions. We were coldly logical, brutally honest, and point out softskins flaws constantly. Also very direct. No sugar coating, no dancing around issues, very to the point. There are no nuances, and certain types of speech (idioms) are confusing.
By that token; never trust a softskin you just met. Contracts are full of weasel words that let them cheat and lie. Treaties are just more complicated lies. Long term relationship of trust are possible between individuals; but nothing is taken on faith on a first meeting. And if they lie; killing them is best.
Lizardfolk are perfect; we have been around longer than the softskins. We were here before the elves came from the feywild. We will be here when they are dust. Same goes for the rest of the softskins.
Softskins solutions to problems are inefficient. If someone steals from you; kill them. They will never steal again, and you don't have to feed them compared to a prisoner in a jail. Cutting off a hand is a waste, because they will still consume scarce resources and are less useful to tribe.
Softskins are babes in the wilderness and need the help of strong Lizardfolk to survive. Otherwise, we can't learn their secrets of success despite being weaklings.
Sofskins have a strange definition of what is and is not food. Pets are not food? The recently deceased are not food? That doesn't mean we ate everything if it caused discomfort. It is simpler not to annoy neighbors than to educate them.
Lizardfolk do not have family; they have the tribe. There are elders, and peers. There aren't even mates beyond the mating act, as that is a short term activity to ensure tribal survival. There is no love. But there is respect for strength and usefulness.
Softskins have weird and pointless rituals. Courtship is wasteful. Brothels make no sense. preaching on morality tales vs. how to survive. Prayer for thanks at a meal, when you the lizardfolk did all the work. Politics is an expensive waste of energy.
A lizardfolk always strives to be useful. Status in the tribe is dependent on how useful you are. As you get older, you become less useful in active areas, but useful for sharing knowledge.
We are not religious; Semuanya created us and we are perfect. We respect his/her knowledge and power, but we expect no help from Semuamya. If we cannot survive, we are weak and should not.
Sess'innek is corruption. Corruption is bad. Corruption must be eliminated before it causes more corruption. (This is was a major driver for us in the game; as corruption was everywhere as demons were invading.)
By the same token, all other gods of softskins are silly. Focusing on strange/wrong things. Calling onto gods to save them just means they shouldn't survive. If your god created you as a weakling, the god too is a weakling.
Lizardfolk are better than any other group. Perhaps not individuals of a group, but they were outliers. The others in the group are still weak.
When speaking, we almost never used the pronoun I. We was more common, and if we HAD to refer to ourselves, we would use the word 'One'
Money is efficient only when dealing with softskins. Money should be traded to durable goods before returning to a tribe.
That's just what I can distill in 10 minutes. We wrote journals from a lizardfolk's perspective and we honestly were happy when the campaign ended just so we can get our sanity back.
I have a Lizardfolk character that I've been wanting to play, but just haven't had an opportunity yet. I built them using the personality prompts from Volo's, and just elaborated on it from there.
The character is an Inquisitive Rogue, which is often flavored as being a detective-like character, but for him it's flavored more as being a skilled hunter, able to pick out his target's weaknesses and exploit them. He's the last of his tribe... they were wiped out by a plague, and through sheer luck from the genetic lottery, he was the only one naturally immune to the illness. His goal, then, is to find a mate and start a new tribe. The crafted weapons he makes from slain creatures are made as proof of his strength and usefulness to impress a future mate... The character was created for a one-shot that never ended up panning out, where my wife was going to play as a female Dragonborn, so it was going to be kind of funny as he's constantly trying to impress her character (since he just perceives her as an unusual looking lizardfolk), but in the gross, weird ways that would normally work with other Lizardfolk.
I have a Lizardfolk character that I've been wanting to play, but just haven't had an opportunity yet. I built them using the personality prompts from Volo's, and just elaborated on it from there.
The character is an Inquisitive Rogue, which is often flavored as being a detective-like character, but for him it's flavored more as being a skilled hunter, able to pick out his target's weaknesses and exploit them. He's the last of his tribe... they were wiped out by a plague, and through sheer luck from the genetic lottery, he was the only one naturally immune to the illness. His goal, then, is to find a mate and start a new tribe. The crafted weapons he makes from slain creatures are made as proof of his strength and usefulness to impress a future mate... The character was created for a one-shot that never ended up panning out, where my wife was going to play as a female Dragonborn, so it was going to be kind of funny as he's constantly trying to impress her character (since he just perceives her as an unusual looking lizardfolk), but in the gross, weird ways that would normally work with other Lizardfolk.
Unless you choose not to, then yes your character should know the 'Trade tongue' aka Common.
I got ya. I was thinking more in relation to the brain size, and the way they think.
Lizard folk have no intelligence penalty, so they can be as intelligent as any other character. No reason you can’t have lizardfolk wizards and artificers. :) As for “lizard brain” vs “mammal brain” in biology, lizard folk can be as advanced beyond real world lizards as humans are advanced beyond mice.
Getting into them thinking differently could be quite interesting, however, IF it adds to the fun rather than becoming an obstacle to it.
Unless you choose not to, then yes your character should know the 'Trade tongue' aka Common.
I got ya. I was thinking more in relation to the brain size, and the way they think.
Lizard folk have no intelligence penalty, so they can be as intelligent as any other character. No reason you can’t have lizardfolk wizards and artificers. :) As for “lizard brain” vs “mammal brain” in biology, lizard folk can be as advanced beyond real world lizards as humans are advanced beyond mice.
Getting into them thinking differently could be quite interesting, however, IF it adds to the fun rather than becoming an obstacle to it.
Alright, I see what you mean, cool. That is really helpful, thank you.
Keep in mind that, I have been looking at other sites and the book(s) to help make this character. I am looking to start creating a Lizardfolk character, and I am (as the title says) looking for examples, ideas and anything else that can help make a Lizardfolk character.
1. Lizardfolk that thinks it’s a Dragonborn
2. what kind of character are you looking to make? There’s not a ton of details in your question, do you need help with class/background? Help with concept?
3. Are you coming to human-ish, settlements cause your curious? To find their weaknesses before you destroy them? We’re you banished from your own kind———— (are you Jar Jar Binks?)
Sorry about the lack of details, to be frank, the Lizardfolk is pretty different (for me) to make into character, and I am really new to this. Sense their mind set is really different, the back story is where I need the most help, for right now at least. The idea of my character being banished, had crossed my mind.
The mindset is so different compared to Dwarfs, Elfs, Humans for example, that it is fun to try and make a character out of a Lizardfolk. But at the same time, in general, I just have a tough time knowing how to approach the character proses.
I had a similar problem recently, first thing, where are you from?
I made a map of every significant Lizardfolk population(I could find) to help me decide
For me it was the Marsh of Chelimber a province of Najara, a whole country of scalykind ruled by naga. That gave me a tribal knowledge of undead, and little contact with non scaly races, mostly a minor ogur problem and occasional run ins with tribal humans to the north who refused to abandon their now flooded homeland.
No farming or reading either, only hunter gatherer, I left because winter was coming, and unless we went to war with another tribe for more hunting territory, there was no food for me.
On that note let me bring up being cold blooded and what a Gigantotherm is, you can look it up, but basically its a cold blooded creature that is so large that your surface area to mass ratio changes enough that you CAN regulate your own body temperature. You can benefit from external temperatures to need less calories, but if you need to keep warm by burning calories you do so less efficiently than a warm blooded creature. (so the food to feed an entire tribe balloons in winter)
What does this mean for you? you will probably eat less often, like once a day or less, also your energy will be in spurts, so you will be extra tired after a fight with poor short term endurance, but have no problem fighting in spurts all day with your long term endurance.
Another good thing to look into is who your god is, Lizardfolk tribes tend to only have 1 religion, so even if your not that religious, the values would have drifted into your culture and upbringing in general. The 3 big lizardfolk gods are Semuanya, Sess'innek, and Essylliss.
So that's my tips for Lizardfolk backstory, as for mindset, the Alien Minds & Cold and Calculating section of the race page really is worth re-reading a few times. I basically play it as humans tend to Emote>act>think by default while Lizardfolk Think>act/emote.
Wow! Thank you so much for the map and info.
I know this may seem like a odd question but, as a Lizardfolk, you can have a full conversation with the other characters, right?
Unless you choose not to, then yes your character should know the 'Trade tongue' aka Common.
I got ya. I was thinking more in relation to the brain size, and the way they think.
Hey! So my son and I played a pair of Lizardfolk "Eggbrothers" (brothers in the sense they were born from the same clutch of eggs, not actual genetic brothers) for almost two years. We spent a lot of time developing our culture, specifically so it contrasted with the "softskins" that were neighbors to the swamp.
So we started simple, and after two years, we ended up with a pile of concepts outlined below. Use what you want or ignore it. Semuanya doesn't care. Sorry if it is a little random and stream of consciousness.
That's just what I can distill in 10 minutes. We wrote journals from a lizardfolk's perspective and we honestly were happy when the campaign ended just so we can get our sanity back.
GLHF!
Thank you Nthal. That is helpful.
The lizardfolk campaign on Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/DnDGreentext/comments/97riuv/eating_people_is_fine_so_long_as_we_all_agree_on/
I don’t have many ideas, but this is one of those green texts about a campaign where everyone that showed up decided to play a lizardfolk.
That's interesting, I'll check it out.
I have a Lizardfolk character that I've been wanting to play, but just haven't had an opportunity yet. I built them using the personality prompts from Volo's, and just elaborated on it from there.
The character is an Inquisitive Rogue, which is often flavored as being a detective-like character, but for him it's flavored more as being a skilled hunter, able to pick out his target's weaknesses and exploit them. He's the last of his tribe... they were wiped out by a plague, and through sheer luck from the genetic lottery, he was the only one naturally immune to the illness. His goal, then, is to find a mate and start a new tribe. The crafted weapons he makes from slain creatures are made as proof of his strength and usefulness to impress a future mate... The character was created for a one-shot that never ended up panning out, where my wife was going to play as a female Dragonborn, so it was going to be kind of funny as he's constantly trying to impress her character (since he just perceives her as an unusual looking lizardfolk), but in the gross, weird ways that would normally work with other Lizardfolk.
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That's pretty cool, and interesting. Thank you.
I've had a player that played a lizardfolk cavalier that rode on a giant lizard.
Please check out my homebrew, I would appreciate feedback:
Spells, Monsters, Subclasses, Races, Arcknight Class, Occultist Class, World, Enigmatic Esoterica forms
Lizard folk have no intelligence penalty, so they can be as intelligent as any other character. No reason you can’t have lizardfolk wizards and artificers. :) As for “lizard brain” vs “mammal brain” in biology, lizard folk can be as advanced beyond real world lizards as humans are advanced beyond mice.
Getting into them thinking differently could be quite interesting, however, IF it adds to the fun rather than becoming an obstacle to it.
Alright, I see what you mean, cool. That is really helpful, thank you.
Did you use this https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Lizardfolk to see where they live? I just can't read them from that picture. I did try and use https://www.worldanvil.com/w/the-forgotten-realms-threedmensional/map/5b827051-c949-4d9c-8204-76bc85861fab To read the name of the places
It has been quite a while sense I have checked either one of those out. I will take another look, thank you.